Mick Moss (ANTIMATTER) on RockOverdose: “One of the best feelings to hear is that your own music has worked in the right way.”

ANTIMATTER, return to Greece as part of their anniversary tour “XXV” and manpower Mick Moss answers our questions, preparing us for an evening filled with their unique dark/prog rock sounds and a surprising setlist!

Read below the interview.

RockOverdose: First of all we would like to know how does it feel completing more than 25 years from the forming of the band. Did you expect it to last that long in the beginning and touch people’s heart in such a special way?

Mick Moss (ANTIMATTER): Well, thank you! How does it feel? It makes me feel old, like time is really starting to get away from me now. I honestly don’t know how long I expected things to last… let’s not forget that for the first 3 albums Antimatter was a duo, and my half of that duo was a direct continuation of my solo project that I formed in 1995, so this is 30 years for me now. When I began that project it was definitely meant to be a long-term thing, as I committed myself fully in my mind to dedicating the rest of my life to music and never giving up. I do get lots of sentimental messages from people who have listened and been moved. I understand that feeling, music has been touching me since for as long as I can remember, and it’s one of the best feelings to hear that your own music has worked in the right way.

RockOverdose: This year finds Antimatter releasing a very important and essential collection called “Parallel Matter” that takes us back up to 30 years in your personal recordings. Was it something you intended for long and 2025 was the right moment to be released?

Mick Moss (ANTIMATTER): I’m an obsessive worker, writer, recorder, archivist, and all these little acoustic sessions, remixes, live versions, they build up over time due to my workflow and nature, but they dont have a home, all these little orphans, and that makes me sad. And because I love music so much I desperately dont want these recordings to get lost in time. I’m turning 50 soon, so that idea of the end of the road, it’s becoming more and more of a consideration now. Two people I know are terminally ill, and they’re roughly my age, so you never know when your time will come. My priority is to music, I have dedicated my life to it, so these 20 recordings, they need to be given a life and not get lost in time. After the 2010 archive compilation ‘Alternative Matter’ (a similar collection which was released to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the first Antimatter album) it was only a matter of time until a second one was planned. For a long time, yes, I did know that ‘Parallel Matter’ would arrive in 2025 as it seemed like the right time to do it. Plus lets not forget that the anniversary before that was the 20th, in 2020, and we were all in the grips of covid at that point. There will likely be another release like this in another 10 or 15 years, if I’m still here.

RockOverdose: Does it feel like completing a full circle with “Parallel Matter”? You offer so much material and very personal output there. Is there a sense of completion or relief now that all this material is finally available?

Mick Moss (ANTIMATTER): Oh, absolutely. There are so many satisfying instances here of loose ends being finally tied-up that there are too many to mention individually. The main double album of ‘Parallel Matter’ alone has so many quality recordings that were just languishing in my archives. It is a massive releif to get them finished and released. To give one example, the track ‘Carve It In’ was written in 2001 for the second album, but I decided to put it to one side instead. And here I am, 24 years later, releasing it having completed it (using 24 year old elements from the original demo). That alone is insane. But I think I feel the sense of a full circle the most with the third disc, Mick Moss – Prototapes, which is a collection of my afromentioned solo project recordings from 1995-99. Those recordings were made between 30 and 25 years ago, and in the back of my mind they were always kind of unfinished business for me. To actually finally release a project that I began three decades ago brings with it an unbelievable sense of completion. So much so, that I’m actually going to leave Antimatter exactly where it is for a few years and not record any new albums. Everything is perfect exactly where it is and I want to savour this moment and let it just hang in the air. And in the meantime I will tour celebrating the last 25 years.

RockOverdose: How did the XXV tour go so far, just a while before the new leg including Greece? A friend having seen you many times, saw you recently in Netherlands and told me you’re in the best shape of your career.

Mick Moss (ANTIMATTER): The first leg of the tour was an unbelievable experience. I had made the decision very early on in the planning stages that I wouldn’t include any of the songs I had been playing for the last seven years, so as a result (and I’m stating the obvious here) this setlist is completely new to me. I am experiencing passages of music and emotional highs in the live setting that I have not experienced before. There are many songs being played for the first time here, and the rest have not been played for a very long time. It’s incredibly fresh and the live Antimatter feels like it’s had a shot in the arm. I’m really proud that my discography has enough tracks to be able to do this. I’m also proud that all these songs that were essentially just sitting there on the substitutes bench are strong enough to create such a cool setlist. I’ll probably put one or two of the standards back into the set for Greece though, as the Greek audiences havent had many opportunities to hear us recently.

RockOverdose: Antimatter stays to this day as one of the bands that remained true to its art and doing things how they wanted it to be and when they wanted it to happen. How easy is to not compromise your personal identity in the world of music and how does it feel to be acknowledged by fans for your integrity?

Mick Moss (ANTIMATTER): To be fair, it would make no sense for me to go against my own musical integrity as I would have nothing to gain from doing so. Antimatter (and I’ve been saying this for a very long time) is a small, cult band, there is no mass exposure, no mass radio play, so what could I possibly achieve by twisting it into something else? To appease who? to appeal to who? I don’t work with producers who try to change my music either. All I’ve ever done is to try and make music that affects me internally, gives me a buzz. That alone is my litmus test. And I figure that if the music lights me up inside then it will do the same to other people. That’s my integrity right there. Integrity to my belief in the ability of my music to move people in the same way as it moves me. And within those parameters I will do whatever I want… whatever style of music I want. If I want to do an eight minute progressive piece with no recurring sections or a three minute acoustic song with a standard arrangement it makes no difference to me. As long as the feeling I get from it is strong then I believe in it and I will do everything I can to bring it into the world.

RockOverdose: It would be really interesting to know when you start getting the vibe of wanting to be a singer and entering the world of music. Everyone has his motive and influences, which were yours and which artists have come to your attention the last years, that you believe they do something special?

Mick Moss (ANTIMATTER): Originally I never set out to be a singer as I would never have thought I had the ability or confidence. I joined my first band in 1990 purely as a bass player. After that I stumbled from one band to another (playing either bass or rhythm guitar) until I formed my own project in 1995 which was originally meant to be an instrumental thing along the lines of Ozric Tentacles. One thing led to another and then I ended up doing a gig as a singer in summer 1996. This was to fill in for a vocalist who had quit a gig I was supposed to be playing rhythm guitar for. So that’s how I found my voice – almost by accident. In the earlier days, Tracy Chapman had a definite influence on my singing. There is something in her voice, a tangible emotion, that kind of leapt out of her and into me. And then over the years you just kind of develop your own style. And I guess that style keeps on developing. I assume that in 10 years I will be singing slightly differently to how I am today. I feel that is the way it goes, for me anyway. One of the things I enjoy the most about collaborating vocally with people is that when I sing across other people’s music, the excitement of that process conjures out new variations of my voice that I never even knew existed. I recently sang on the track ‘Algol’ by REMINA, and I was like a kid in a playground, trying out different approaches.

Which vocalists have come to my attention in recent years? A.A. Williams kinda hits me in the feels, she has something in her voice that gets me. Also Jayn Maiven of Darkher, who I’ve shared the bill with a few times on festivals now. She’s got something good going on.

RockOverdose: Also, since your voice is extraordinarily special and important for many people out there, we would like you to give a guide to possible new singers what they should be careful of, if you have any techniques to protect or warm up the voice and any advice you could offer to people being influenced by you in turn.

Mick Moss (ANTIMATTER): I would say to find your voice, whatever that may be. Stay connected with that voice and fucking express yourself with it. And for Gods sake, under no circumstances get on stage drunk or with a hangover!

RockOverdose: I seriously have to point out that many are the great covers I have encountered in my life, but Antimatter’s one for “Black Sun” remains one of the best ever. Do you believe as many people that “Aion” is the underrated jewel in DCD’s discography also?

Mick Moss (ANTIMATTER): I can’t comment on that because I didn’t give the entire DCD discography too many listens. I went through perhaps 20 of their songs from various albums, but the minute I heard ‘Black Sun’, I knew that was the one I wanted to cover, like within the first 30 seconds. It just grabbed me immediately and seemed to contain a lot of elements that I personally love. As it turns out, Duncan did too, so we were very much on the same page for that one.

RockOverdose: Antimatter and Greece have a very strong bond, needless to say. You even recorded an acoustic set here. It’s been 6 years which for us Greeks is too much, you know how impatient we are. What is that “special” connection you had from the beginning that made you give 12 (including the upcoming) gigs here and what kind of “surprises” might we have this time?

Mick Moss (ANTIMATTER): Greece was among the first gigs I ever played with Antimatter. I first went to An Club, Athens, in 2003 and then later on in 2007 after the release of ‘Leaving Eden’ when I was flying solo. That particular show was never meant to be a live album, in fact I had no idea it was even being recorded until I was handed the files about 6 months later. So I was actually able to launch my record label MUSIC IN STONE with that recording, and that was the beginning of me learning that whole side of things, that side of the business. It’s true that I don’t get to Greece as much as I should but that’s a logistical reason more than anything else – our tours are mostly done on the road, so we don’t drive down south that often. As for surprises, like I said earlier, most of this set is ether brand new or hasn’t been played for a long time!

RockOverdose: We would like to thank you for your time in answering these questions and for still being out there, doing your thing your own personal way. What is up for the rest of the year as plans and when should we wait for new material after this compilation? See you in Athens soon.

Mick Moss (ANTIMATTER): Thank you! New material is on its way in the form of ‘Dreams & Limitations’ the second album from my other project Sleeping Pulse and I couldnt be happier. The drum recording was finished only yesterday so now it’s down to my musical partner Luis to get his parts recorded before passing the baton to me to record my vocals in my home studio here. The demos for this album were insanely good, I can’t wait to get it recorded and out into the world as its one of the best albums I’ve ever been involved in. I have a great working relationship with Luis in Sleeping Pulse, and we are both in this with our heart and soul. I feel so lucky to be working and writing with him, and he feels the same about me, so, honestly, I couldn’t be happier with this project. We work very slowly, though. The first album took maybe 6 years to get together and this one has taken even longer. It’s a killer second album, much more mature than the debut in every way imaginable. The title ‘Dreams & Limitations’, thats basically what we all are… temporary, mortal beings with heads full of hopes and wishes. Some of the lyrics hit me hard in the gut. Immediately after that I will move onto my next project The End Of Empathy, my new musical vehicle with Andrea Chiodetti (formerly of The Foreshadowing) who I worked with in MMXX. We will launch it as soon as possible, kind of a melodic, heavy, gothic thing, I love it. It will of course sound similar to three MMXX tracks I did with him earlier in the decade. ‘The Tower’ from that project is a career highlight for me. In fact, it was once ‘The Tower’ was finished that I just knew me and him had real chemistry and I had to start chasing that chemistry. We have a lot of material written already. It’s a very fruitful tree we have here! I’m turning 50 this year and I have never been so busy in my life. There is also the question of my solo acoustic covers album that Ive had demo’d for about ten years now, plus some live releases from Antimatter ….

On behalf of RockOverdose.gr

Aggelos Katsouras